Tonight At The London Palladium

James Acaster reveals why he bombed at the Palladium

Recalling the event on White Wine Question Time, Acaster told Kate Thornton trying out new material on Tonight At The London Palladium in 2017 probably wasn't his best idea.

Despite this being a modern revival of variety at the London Palladium, the vibe of the show still skews towards the old school. Copacabana legend Barry Manilow will be hitting the hallowed stage, joined by acts including the venerable Chinese State Circus, standup comedian Pippa Evans and an exclusive performance by the newly re-formed Bananarama. Hosting duties are performed by - who else? - Bradley Walsh.

Never mind on-demand and binge-watching: on ITV the age of light entertainment continues like nothing, certainly not the last 30 years, ever happened. Numbers from West End shows, the stars of lightweight pop, inoffensive comedy, Bradley Walsh. All are here for your wholesome, prime-time, family entertainment. Tonight there's swordsmanship from Samurai Hyashi, comedy from Adam Hess and music from James Blunt.

ITV hasn't nailed the formula for a late-night chat show (although Dermot O'Leary is giving The Nightly Show a pretty good crack), but it's hard to fault its ability to put on a mainstream variety show - if you like that sort of thing. The scheduling feels odd (surely this is one for the weekend?), but the line-up ticks a few boxes. Joining the host, Bradley Walsh, are the Brit award-winning singer Emeli Sande; the magician Pete Firman; the returning pop ensemble Steps, performing their comeback single Scared of the Dark, Ben Forster singing The Music of the Night from The Phantom of the Opera; and talent from the Chinese State Circus, who will leave mouths agape.

Radio Times review

If variety should offer sights you never thought you'd see, this episode is a triumph. Among the entertainments is Jason Manford tap-dancing, a troupe of performing budgerigars and a Chinese group doing a "dance of a thousand hands" that would mesmerise Busby Berkeley himself.

Unlike the rest of the week on ITV, nobody here is buzzered off or pleading for the public to vote for them. They're just good. On the downside, pianist Lang Lang hooks up with Croatian duo 2Cellos for a clattering, bull-in-a-china-shop cover of Live and Let Die. Paul McCartney should sue.

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Daniel Sloss is having to clean up his act

Scots comic Daniel Sloss is having to clean up his act for a pre-watershed gig on Sunday Night at the Palladium.

TV Review: Sunday Night At The Palladium

SNATP is an unashamedly lowbrow piece of television. I felt slightly grubby just watching Nicole Sherzinger.

Although Sunday Night At The Palladium will mainly be fronted by a number of comedians, this first episode was hosted by the rather bland Stephen Mulhern. I've never really been a fan of Mulhern's and find him to be somebody who is severely lacking in the charisma department. As a result I found this opening episode of Sunday Night At The Palladium to be fairly lacklustre especially when Mulhern was interacting with the audience in some obviously scripted moments. Thankfully the show was saved by the special guests including Bryan Adams who knocked out a couple of hits and Alan Davies who performed a selection of jokes from his new tour. I liked how the variety of acts would appeal to certain members of the family with the kids lapping up Little Mix's performance whilst the older generation probably enjoyed Alfie Boe's warble through a Les Miserables number. Additionally I enjoyed the mixture of memorable names with a couple of variety acts that I'd never encountered before. For example quick change act David and Dania were an unexpected highlight and Canadian novelty trio Les Beaux Feres were equally surprising. I'm sure that Sunday Night At The Palladium will vary in quality depending on who the host is but on the whole I found the opening episode fairly entertaining. More than anything else it's great to see an old-fashioned variety show with features recognisable rather than yet another reality programme in which normal people attempt to find stardom.